Checking device for roller supported doors



July 1, 1947. H. B. ToBIAs CHECKING DEVICE' FOR ROLLER SUPPORTED DoQRs Filed July 27, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 July l, 1947, H. B. ToBlAs I CHECKING DEVICE FOR `ROLLER SUPPORTED DOORS Filed July 27, 1944 '5y sheets-shea 2 July 1, 1947.

H. B. lTolalAz-s CHECKING DEVICE FOR ROLLER SUPPORTED DOORS Filed July 27, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 will/lll l Herrmann Tobas Patented July 1, 1947 oHEcmNG DEvroEFonnoLIlER. sUrPoRTED nooltS Herrmann Tobias, Washington, D. C.

Application July 2.7, 1944, Serial No, 546,839

(Cl. 18S-33) Y tGranted under the. act of March 3,. 18.83,:@ amended April, 1928; 37.0 0. G. 757) 5 Claims'.

The invention described. hereinImay be manufactured and used byor for .the .Governmentior governmental` purposes, without. payment tov me of any` royalty thereon.

This invention relates t-o, an improved mechanism for actuating the brake used to lock the bottom vrollers employed in supporting large doors and the like.

Large heavy doors for airplane'hangars and the like at present in use weigh from twelve to twenty-,live thousand pounds and are supported on two large ball `bearing bottom rollers for the purpose of facilitating easy and rapid movement of the doors to entrance closing or opening position. These bottom rollers are provided with brake means adaptedto be actuated by pressure on a locking lever or pedal to retard or arrest the opening or closing movement otv the door. The brake also is intended to act as 4a lock.

Hangar doors are generally pulled out of their closed or open positions bymeans .of a pull handle and the rollers supporting the ,doors are prop* erlyv grooved and arranged so that they travel on tracks to permitn easy movement ofthe doors thereby requiring but little effort to roll the doors on the tracks.

One of the objects of theinvent-ion is to provide means for retarding or arresting hangar doors against movement.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improvedv mechanism including a novel pull handle linked to the brake of a bottom roller for a door in such a manner that means are provided for opening or closing the door and applying the brake onto thev bottom lroller for arresting the movement of said door.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism foractuating the brake used to retard or arrest the horizontal movement of a hangar door, which mechanism is simple in construction, efcient inaction and may be readily and conveniently operatedfor the purpose intended.

With the above and other objects Vand advantages in View ther inven-tionconsists of certain features of construction and operation of parts which will hereinafter be described and shown inthe accompanying-'drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the lower portion of a hangar door having the invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a. corner of the lower portion ofthe door to which the` invention is applied, parts being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary irregular sectional View taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and showing the pull andfbrake handieandlinkagemechanism carrying out, the invention;

Fig. 5` is an enlarged fragmentary end. View Dfi` the door style and: the pull and Vbrake, handle of t'he invention;` and is supported on two balll bearing bottom rolflers 10i...4

properly grooved and adaptedrto. travel on a rail?. way track II. One of the lbottom rollers-lily f or purpose of'illustration,` is prov-idedwitha bra-lt-` ing mechanism I2` of any suitable design suchu as shown in Fig. 6; which braking mechanismv I2A is actuated by pressure on alocking lever` or pedal I5 to retard or arrest the l'iorizontalY movement; of the door. The braking mechanism I2 isgadso.` intended to act asV alock.

By modifying .the structural .details of; the usual lever pedal to facilitate its connection with the linkage mechanism indicated; genera/livin Figs.4 2 and 3, any suitable type of' b,ottom rol-ler and brakeconstruction nowv produced maybe em.- ployed in carrying out the instant invention. The door I is pulled out of its. pocket or pushed-thereu inby .the pull handle 20L in the form of" an elongated bar` welded to a` U shaped strap 2|'. The strap 2| is provided with holes. to receivepins 22- and 23. Pin 22 acts as a fulcrum for the pull handle '20 and is supported by a bearing memberV 2.4 which is provided with a threaded boltV extension 25 passing through the door jamb26 and is secured in place with the nutA and Washer 21. With thisv installation, the pull handle 20| is free to. move around the pin '22 to a positionr indicated by the dotted lines 3U, The lower part of the strap 2l engages the pin 23..,and is connected to a link rod 3l provided with an adjustable threaded coupling 32. Link rod 3l is secured to the pin 33` which is integralv with an oscillat-v ing angle lever or bell. crank34` supported by the fulcrum pin 35. The fulcrum-pin 3.5 is welded to a bracket 36, which in turn is secured to thedoor construction. At the opposite end of the angle lever 34a, pin 38 is provided and supports a link rod bracket 39 to which is bolted by double nut adjustment the link rod 4I). The link rod 40 is provided at the lovver` end with a slotted openingto engage the pin 46 which is an integral'part of the modified brake lever pedal I5. Th'e modification of this brake lever pedal I5 consists of providing it with an upstanding flange 41 and the integral pin 46 to which the link rod 40 may be attached.

The operation of the invention is as follows: Assuming the entrance opening of the hangar is to be closed and each of the various doors is in its respective side pockets, to move door I to entrance closing position the operator grasps portion 20a of the handle 20 and draws the door outwardly from its pocket until the approximate position of the door in the opening has been reached. As the door attains its closed position it has acquired considerable momentum and the reactive tendency of the operator in trying to retard and arrest the movement of the door is to push the portion 20a of the pull handle 20, which oscillates the pull handle about the iulcrum 22 to the position 30, thereby pulling the link rod 3 I, oscillating the angle lever 34, pushing the link rod 40 against the brake pedal l5 and applying the brake. When the operator desires to open the hangar doors, each of the various doors that are within the entrance opening are moved into their respective side pockets by grasping portion 20h of the handle 20 and pushing the doors away from the operator until their approximate positions in the pockets are reached when the reactive tendency of the operator, in trying to retard and arrest the movement of the doors, is to pull against this portion 29h of the pull handle 2U and thereby oscillate the pull handle about the fulcrum 22 to the position 30, consequently activating the linkage mechanism as above described and applying the brake.

While there has herein been shown and described the invention in connection with a specie embodiment of the same, it is not intended to be limited to the specific details of construction shown and described, but only insofar as defined by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent 1. A checking device for a hangar door having rollers mounted on the bottom thereof and engaging a track, said checking device comprising a brake including a pedal for controlling the actuation of the rollers on said track, an inwardly and outwardly oscillatable push and pull handle and linkage mechanism including a U-shaped strap pivotally connected at an upper part thereof to an edge of the door, a pivotally connected bellcrank lever, a link rod provided with an adjustable coupling and pivotally connecting one arm of the bell-crank lever to a lower part of the strap, a link rod bracket pivotally connected to the other end of the bell-crank lever, and a link rod pivotally connecting said bracket to said pedal,v

said handle xedly mounted on said strap and adapted to actuate said strap about its pivotal connection with said door for applying said brake through said first-mentioned link rod, bell-crank lever, bracket and said second-mentioned link rod to retard or arrest the motion of the door by the pulling or pushing on said handle.

2. A checking device adapted to be used in connection with a door having rollers mounted on the bottom thereof and engaging a track, said door checking device comprising a brake including a pedal for controlling the actuation of the rollers on said track, an outwardly and inwardly oscillatable push and pull handle and linkage mechanism including an oscillatable bell-crank angle lever, said handle pivotally mounted on an edge of the door and connected by said linkage mechanism with said pedal for applying the brake to retard or arrest the motion of the door by the pulling or pushing of the handle.

3. A checking device adapted to be used in connection with a door having rollers mounted on the bottom thereof and engaging a track, said door checking device comprising a brake including a pedal for controlling the actuation of the rollers on said track, an inwardly and outwardly oscillatable push and pull handle and linkage mechanism including an oscillatable bell-crank angle lever and rods, said handle pivotally mounted on an edge of the door and connected by said linkage mechanism with said pedal for actuating the brake to retard or arrest'the motion of the door by the pulling or pushing of the handle.

4. A checking device adapted to be used in connection with a door having rollers mounted on the bottom thereof and engaging a track, said door checking device comprising a brake including a pedal for controlling the actuation of the rollers on said track, an outwardly and inwardly oscillatable push and pull handle and linkage mechanism, a bearing member mounted on an edge of the door, said handle including a strap pivotally mounted on said bearing member, said linkage mechanism including a bell-crank angle lever, a link rod pivotally connecting said handle strap with said lever, whereby the linkage mechanism is actuated to operate the brake to retard or arrest the motion of the door by the pulling or pushing of the handle.

5. A checking device adapted to be used in connection with a door having rollers mounted on the bottom thereof and engaging a track, said door checking device comprising a brake including a pedal for controlling the actuation oi the rollers on said track, an inwardly and outwardly oscillatable push and pull handle including a strap and linkage mechanism, a pair of pins mounted on said strap, a bearing member mounted on an edge of the door, one of said pins engaging said bearing member, a pivoted bell-crank angle lever, a link rod pivotally connected to the other of said pins and one end of said lever, and a link rod connecting another end of the lever to said pedal, whereby upon the actuation of said handle the linkage mechanism is actuated to operate said brake to retard or arrest the motion of the door by the pulling or pushing of the handle.

HERRMANN B. TOBIAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,253,824 Townsend et al. Aug. 26, 1941 1,397,206 Geiger Nov. 15, 1921 

